GFSC fines trust company £266,000

Trident Trust and three of its key principals have been hit with large fines as a result of its approach towards the risks of anti-money laundering and the funding of terrorism.

Even when it knew that it should have been enforcing the regulatory framework, including retrospectively, the firm continued to argue that the line of business was non-regulated and failed to take action.

The Guernsey Financial Services Commission said the failings were serious and spanned a significant period. It fined the company £266,000.

Former managing directors Mark Wilson Le Tissier and Ryan Dekker were fined £63,000 each, and former money laundering reporting officer Boonyasinee ‘Kwan’ Queripel was fined £39,900.

They were banned from holding any supervised role for two years and 10 months in the cases of the men, and 21 months for Mrs Queripel.

All three received a discount for agreeing to settle at an early stage of the enforcement process.

The company established three incorporated cell companies with 140 incorporated cells to provide crew, management and payroll services for yacht management companies owned by wealthy clients.

But it failed to take into account the risks presented by the owners, who included some politically exposed persons from high-risk jurisdictions, and only considered the actions of the companies.

In one example, one structure received some £178m. from a yacht management company over two-and-a-half years without the firm ever establishing where the money came from.

The GFSC launched an investigation after a site visit in March 2020, where it identified multiple regulatory breaches in a high proportion of client files reviewed.

Trident Trust had already said the year before that it would review all its high risk relationships and address any failings.

The GFSC noted that at least 17 ICs within one structure received funds via the yacht management company from individuals linked with allegations of money laundering, corruption, insider trading, bribery, forgery and ties to organised crime.

‘This meant that the licensee was running a high risk of being potentially concerned in dealing with the proceeds of crime, thereby putting the Bailiwick at risk of reputational damage as an international finance centre,’ it said.

Typically payments were received by the cells to enable the yacht companies to meet monthly payroll obligations. But they were often paid in a way which did not identify the ultimate beneficial owner and the commission identified some individuals involved who presented significant money laundering risks.

The investigation found failings over the company’s business risk assessment, customer due diligence, establishing the source of wealth and the failure to monitor business relationships.

The GFSC said that the three senior figures at the company ‘made a series of bad decisions’ which could have concealed its AML failings had the commission not identified those issues later.

The company said it had worked constructively with the GFSC 'to understand these complex and interrelated issues', relating to historic services provided and to remediate its failings.

It represented a small, specific line of its Guernsey fiduciary business.

The commission noted that Trident Trust had ‘taken substantial steps and invested significant resources’ in remediation and said it was satisfied that the company can continue to operate under its full fiduciary licence.